Men open season with pair of wins
CALEB SLINKARD
CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR
The
Texas
A&M
University-Commerce
men’s basketball won
their first two games of
the season on Nov. 15 and
16 against St. Edward’s
University and Trinity
University.
The wins
gave
A&M-Commerce
their first 2-0 record since
the 2004-2005 season.
“It feels good to be
undefeated
because
we’ve had such great
teams that have had slow
starts in the past few
years,” said head coach
Tom Walker. “Learning
while you’re winning is
easier than learning while
you’re losing.”
In the first game, the
Lions beat St. Edward’s
73-60 on senior forward
Ronnie Morgan’s 16 points
and 10 rebounds. Senior
forward Justin Wilkerson
had eight points and nine
rebounds, while junior
guard Brian Singleton
chipped in 10 points
and led the team with
seven assists.
Morgan led A&MCommerce in scoring again
with 17 points against

Trinity as the Lions held
off a second-half charge
by the Tigers to win 67-58.
Singleton added 14 points
and sophomore guard
Brad Hambrick had 11 in
the victory.
“I would say that
Ronnie Morgan, Brad
Hambrick, Cardell Hunter
and Sammy Jackson are
just about everything we
expected returning starters
to be, and Brian Singleton
has been a pleasant surprise,” Walker said.
The first two games
have proved that the
Lions can get by just fine
without having a single star player to carry
the team.
“When you have a
group of guys that can
all score double-digits and
play good defense I think
that’s better than having
one star,” Hambrick said.
This year’s team is built
around the concept that
winning is a team effort.
“We don’t have set
plays, we run motions,”
senior forward Sammy
Jackson said. “So whoever
gets it at the right time,
it’s their turn to score.
The Lions travel down
to San Antonio for their

next tournament, where
they will face St. Mary’s
and Langston University
on Nov. 27 and 28. The
tournament will be the
their first games since
their win against Trinity
on Nov. 16.
“The 11 day break is
not healthy,” Walker
said. “With all that practice time, you’d think you
could get a lot better, but
you can get into a rut.
We’re trying to avoid that
by having good, competitive practices every day.”
Walker isn’t upset
about the amount of away
games at the beginning of
the schedule, however.
“It helps,” he said. “The
amount of time you spend
off of the court collectively
confined in social settings
benefits the team.”
Jackson agreed with his
coach about the amount of
early home games, but for
other reasons.
“It really helps us out,
because, at the end of the
season, most of our games
are away, so we’ll be used
to playing away,” he said.
The Lions play their
first home game on Dec.
8 against Henderson
State University.

Nicole Anderson was still looking for her first win as coach after the Lions’ first tournament of the season.

Lions drop opening games
ADAM TROXTELL
SPORTS EDITOR
The
Texas
A&M
University-Commerce
women’s basketball team
dropped its first two
games of the season over
the weekend in the 2009
Drury/Lady Panther Sleep
Inn Classic in Springfield,
Mo.
It began Friday night
when they lost to hosts
Drury University 98-60.
Drury (2-0) dominated the
game from the start, as
they immediately went on
a 10-2 run and were up
57-33 at halftime. Despite
the slow start, A&MCommerce senior Nakazi
Glover was able to put
up 15 points to lead the
Lions. Juniors Mattilyn
McIntryre and Genevieve
Campbell also scored
double-digit points in

the game, with 14 and 10
respectively.
Four of Drury’s players
had point totals in doublefigures, and senior Lindsay
Ballweg, who tallied a
game high 23, led them
all. Caitlin Shouse scored
16 points, and Ja’Nell
Jones had eight assists
on her way to scoring 10
points. As a whole, Drury
shot 64.3 percent from the
field and completely dominated in rebounding with
42, compared to A&MCommerce’s 24.
The Lions then had to
match up against Michigan
Tech, who was ranked
No. 1 in the Preseason
USA Today/ESPN Div. II
Coaches Poll the following
Saturday. Despite sophomore Tiffany Mitchell’s 15
points and 12 rebounds
for her first career doubledouble, A&M-Commerce

fell 71-51.
With just under 10 minutes to go in the first half,
Michigan Tech (3-0) went
on a 14-4 run that ultimately decided the game.
Seniors Danae Danen and
Katie Wysocky, who each
scored 22 points in the
win, led the Huskies.
McIntyre had 14 points
and four rebounds for the
Lions, while Campbell
managed nine points and
four rebounds. This is the
first time the Lions have
started out 0-2 since the
2003-04 season. The first
two games of that season were against Div. I
opponents Centenary and
UT-Arlington.
A&M-Commerce plays
away to fellow LSC
opponents Texas A&MKingsville in their next
game on Friday, Nov. 27,
at 7 p.m.

Meagan Lasley dibbles down the field during a home game this season against Dallas Baptist University.

Lasley’s goals important on and off field
SUSAN SHORKEY
STAFF WRITER
For the past four years,
Senior Meagan Lasley has
had a tremendous impact
at Texas A&M UniversityCommerce.
From star
soccer player to a wellbalanced student, Meagan
continues to succeed in
everything she does here
at A&M-Commerce.
Lasley has been playing soccer for 14 years.
As soon as she was introduced to soccer from her
brother, she has been
playing non-stop.
“My brother played
when we were both really
young, and I wanted to
try it out. I loved it ever
since then,” she said.
The Mesquite, Texas,
native was named District
Offensive
MVP
and
All-District honors as a
senior during her time at
Mesquite High School.
She also earned first team
all-district recognition as a
freshman and junior, and
a second-team all-district

honoree as a sophomore.
After Lasley graduated
from Mesquite High in
2006, she continued her
soccer career on a full 4
year scholarship for A&MCommerce. In those four
years, Lasley played in 71
games, had 28 assists, and
made 47 goals, 11 of which
were game winners.
Lasley was named Lone
Star Conference player
of the year, was second
team all-region, and second team all-conference
for her sophomore year.
One of the games she is
most proud of was when
the Lions played against
Tampa University, and
won 3-1.
“We went in as the
under dogs, and then
came out with a win,” she
said.
Meagan
impressed
most during her junior
year. She was named third
team all-American honors
by the National Soccer
Coaches Association of
America, second team allregion by Daktronics, first

team all-conference, and
was ranked one of the top
30 players in the nation in
points per game as well
as offensive player of the
week. This year, she has
been named first team allregion, first team all-conference, earned offensive
player of the week as well
as offensive player of the
year.
Lasley said she has
both good and bad
memories from soccer
games through her four
years playing for A&MCommerce. This includes
losing in the Sweet Sixteen
of the NCAA tournament
to Truman during her
junior year.
“I thought we were going
to go all the way that
year, so it was a big disappointment when we lost,”
Lasley said.
For the future, Meagan
is interested in pursuing a
career in sports industry,
and would love to work
for a sport organization
and deal in marketing or
public relations.

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Published on Dec 1, 2009

ADAM TROXTELL SPORTS EDITOR CALEB SLINKARD CAMPUS LIFE EDITOR Meagan Lasley dibbles down the field during a home game this season against Da...